BTL FANZINE #009

not only the world of hardcore & punk goes through constant changes… the world itself is making crazy changes! And for many of us, not the ones we’re looking forward to. Insane politics, racist mfs on the rise and an overall climate of insecurity is dominating the daily news. During this time, we wanna focus on the things that keep us sane and matter the most.

For us it’s the music, the scene and the people that make it into a place, that’s been a home for anyone and a counter movement against racism and prejudice worldwide.

We are incredibly thankful for the opportunity to talk to so many different people and collect their journeys, opinions and thoughts for this fanzine.

Y’all the MVPs of this shit! Thank you for taking the time answering our questions, sending us photos or giving us feedback on the last issue. This means the world and we appreciate every single one of you. You made it possible to bring out another banger issue.

So yeah, there it is – Issue number nine! One year after we published the last zine, updated our design, logo and gave this project an overall new style. Y’all been thirsty for more content and we got you covered with a whole lotta new stories, interviews and cool shit of our scene around the world. Whether it’s in Europe, the US or even South Africa, this issue got it all. You ever wondered how a Native American big drum song and hardcore work together or wanted to know who was peaking through the window of Missing Links vocalist Mike? We got you!

Before we kick it off, we also wanna appreciate everyone that’s been riding with us since our first zine back in 2013. Y’all been with us through every kinda hype, up & down of the scene and we’re happy that you’re still here, reading our shit and supporting a true DIY project. With this being said, turn the page and enjoy what you are here for!

Cheers, yours truly

1

2

3

14

Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. For all our readers who don’t know you yet - could you please introduce yourself and your band?

What makes your sound unique?

Hey there! My name is Manon, I am 32 years old, I come from Belgium but I live in Düsseldorf, Germany. I sing in the German band Haywire, based in the NRW area, and we have been active for the past 3 years. Going to shows and listening to heavy music has been part of my life since I am a teenager and I developed a deep passion for it over the years. It was not easy to find my path into all this, for a long time I thought that I was meant to stay in the audience. But one day, my boyfriend Sergej pushed me to start singing because he loved

hearing me sing in the shower or in the car, as cliché as it sounds. Clean singing is of course one thing, but when he suggested for me to learn screaming, I was rather surprised.

Not gonna lie, I was full of doubts at first, but in the end I do believe that I found what I was meant to do.

Started singing, we had plenty of time on our hands during the lockdowns, and Sergej’s head was full of riffs. More importantly, he had a vision. We were missing hard bands that sounded hard but also weren’t beatdown, and we wanted to bring this kind of heavy hardcore back to life. Think of Suburban Scum, Downpresser, World of Pain: those are major influences for us. When we started the band, we joked around and wrote

“99% violence, 1% technique“ on our Instagram profile. And up to this day, it is still accurate. All we want is to play groovy, straightin-your-face moshable hardcore without any pretension. We dropped our demo in March 2022, a promo in 2023, and finally an EP in September 2024 on Side2Side Records (called “Rotten Earth“).

Rotten Earth is our most ambitious release yet and I am very proud of it.

You have been in the scene for a long time - in front of the stage and now on the stage. How did you experience the hardcore scene back then, and how do you feel about it today? What changes have you noticed over the years - both in general and regarding the perception of female vocalists in the scene? What‘s your point of view?

I started going to shows when I was 15, and back then I was as excited as a kid opening her Christmas gifts. I was so charmed by the hard music, the adrenaline in the venue and how cool the people were. I was going to shows with a friend and it made me feel incredibly alive.

Of course the magic I felt at the beginning started fading over the years as I started getting to know people, and I discovered another side to this music that I loved more than anything: the endless gossip. And unfortunately, I ended 5

up being a complete victim of it.

One of my first negative conversations was when a girl I knew stated that girls going in the pit is cringe and lame, that it was what her boyfriend thought as well. I remember the first time that I moshed, I was so happy and proud of myself. How strange was it to hear this. It definitely opened my eyes on a couple of things. But I didn’t know that things were about to be much worse for me. Because I got too close to the wrong people (according to some other people), and because I was a sociable and approachable human being trying to live her best life, many women in the scene put a target on my back. After going to many shows, also organizing my own shows and writing multiple reviews for a zine, I ended up being bullied for what felt like an incredible amount of time. People were saying horrible things about me and many people turned their back on me, some guys were hitting me in the face in the pit on purpose, people were telling me that I was worth nothing, or that I’d never be more than a merch girl.

Once after a big show in Germany, the rest of our traveling team had no shame in leaving me alone in a small town in the middle of nowhere at 5h in the morning, without anywhere to go. With all this going on, I couldn’t figure out where I belonged in the scene even if I wanted to be a part of it so bad.

I stuck around, because I couldn’t stay away from the music, and slowly but surely, I witnessed most of those people disappearing from the hardcore landscape. With this group of friends gone and new people going to shows, I was mostly back to safety, especially since I was then in a serious relationship 8 6

and I had a different kind of status.

But then I started facing another kind of situation: the total ignorance of my existence. After being pointed by many fingers for a while, I became invisible. As a woman, I was only “the girlfriend of …“, many people were not even looking at me when they were saying hi to Sergej. It was pretty clear that at that time many people thought that a woman couldn’t have her own personality and have something to say in this scene. Being ignored frustrated me so much and I felt the need to be taken seriously.

Starting the band was of course something that I always wanted to do, but it would be lying to say that it wasn’t a reaction to this situation. I was full of motivation but after going through all this, my fear to be under the spotlights was hard to beat. I didn’t want people to once again drag me into the mud. During the 2-3 first rehearsals, I didn’t even sing most of the time, I was so scared to put myself out there. But I wanted this band to live so badly.

I wanted it bad enough to make me fight my inner demons and overcome them, but it took me a long time.

In 2025, the current sphere and the way women are treated are completely different. There is a real intention to respect everyone, whatever

their gender and identity, and everyone goes to shows without malice.

Even if the scene will always have a sweet spot for drama, I do not believe that someone could disrespect another person at the same level as I was, and even less without any consequences. I feel a strong sense for justice and fairness in the current scene and it is important to highlight it. I feel like my opinion and experience is valued for the first time ever. There honestly isn’t much to be said because everything seems to be going so well and the scene overall is doing really great!

It sometimes feels like the scene tries more to fulfill a duty towards people than valuing the actual music and I think the song “born of rotten earth“ of your latest EP is dedicated towards this issue in some parts. You’ve been grinding behind the mic to get yourself and the band to the point where you currently are - valued for the music and valued for the great person you are. How do you feel about that?

This is precisely one of the messages that I am trying to share: value me for my worth as an individual, nothing more, nothing less. I love seeing women being celebrated, however I am having a hard time watching them being put on a pedestal and being given privileges for no concrete reason. Whenever people want to achieve something, they are told to work hard and give their all, isn’t it? That’s how it should be, both for men and for women. I refuse to be praised because I was born with two X chromosomes and my actions and performance should matter more than my appearance and identity. Is this not what we should be fighting for?

I am aware that fronting Haywire, my presence will automatically raise a few eyebrows, but am I wrong for wanting our audience to actually vibe to our music, to read our lyrics and to enjoy the energy that the 5 of us bring to our live sets?

9 7

I think that what I bring to the table is appreciated but there’s always a chance to only being considered “good for a girl“… which is painful of course haha. Women should be seen as individuals with their own personality and skills. As a vocalist, I wish that people could stop comparing me to other women, and then to other men. I do not want Haywire to be a good female -fronted band, I want Haywire to be a good band, period. Everyone should get to enjoy what we play or not like it at all, and there is no need to sugar coat your opinion about my band because I am a woman. Born of Rotten Earth refers to the special treatment that we get because of my simple presence in the band. The four of us are 10 8

well aware that the intentions are not wrong, but it does not mean that we agree with the situation.

In many countries, including Germany, France, and the U.S., we see a political shift to the right and a growing ignorant conservative movement. Hardcore has always been the total opposite to these trends. How do you perceive these changes, and how do they affect you personally?

It is undeniable that we live scary times and I feel powerless in front of everything going on in the world. In Western Europe, we are definitely privileged as our main concern pretty much is paying our bills, but being an expat in Germany definitely worries me.

even if hardcore is political per se, Haywire’s aim isn’t to convey political messages. Empowering our audience, sharing frustration about our everyday life, and turning them into emotion-relief-moshing machines is what we are about.

I guess my most political act is not talking about the woman that I want to be, but being the woman that I want to be. Hardcore was always supposed to be a counter-culture, as in against what the currently established culture proposes. I believe that if governments and societies shift into more totalitarian territory, that is what we need to remember. Let‘s not forget “Banned in DC“ by Bad Brains, or how the Dead Kennedy‘s were censored. Hardcore is supposed to be rebellious and against authority, and if the time comes, we should be just that, stick together, and uplift each member of our community.

I do not think that anything can happen to me, but I sometimes wonder “what if“… I have mixed feelings about my position in between everything and I am sure I am not the only one.

During those hard times, we are all in survival mode and it’s more important than ever to fight for yourself and for your rights but also become the better version of yourself.

Let’s not get beaten up by the negative events in our life and to quote God’s Hate: life is hard, be harder.

Taking control of your life and of your body is so important and nobody can change the world before getting their life in order.

However, I wanted to highlight that

a woman in the scene, even if it’s a fine line. Elitism is a concept that will forever exist in hardcore, some people will always feel more important than some others.

It is very clear to me that the hardcore kids are much more accepting than when I started going to shows. Back then, a lot of people who weren’t even contributing much to the scene were behaving as if they were invincible. Crews were involved, and from my experience, those dozens of people took pleasure in making people like me feel very small, to put it nicely. If you ever wanted to defend yourself, or even take the offensive with one person, you would end up with the whole crew at your butt.

Hardcore is often described as a “safe space“. Personally, I feel like this aspect has evolved a lot in recent years. Fifteen years ago, hardcore did not really was as inclusive and tolerant as nowadays. There were more prejudices, elitist attitudes, and all in all a male-dominated environment. Back then I personally didn’t give a shit about people talking trash about me being a women at a hardcore show but I’m sure that wasn’t the case for many other women trying to get involved. How would you define a “safe space“ in hardcore?

What changes have you noticed?

I pretty much agree here, but I think there is a small difference in between the elitism we find in hardcore and being accepted as 11 9

As long as I admire sincere loyalty, acting like this is also very cowardly.

In all honesty, women were harsher with me than men ever were.

Women had the total control over their boyfriends and their friends and nobody would stand out agains them. Basically men were following women’s orders without ever questioning them. I felt powerless back then and seeing women supporting each other so much these days is something I could have never imagined when I was 18.

I am so positively surprised, and I hope that this will last forever.

That being said, the “safe space“ is not a concept that I fully understand. I personally didn’t feel the need to get a safe space: hardcore already was my source of happiness, and I took my own space within the already existing environment naturally. Even if hardcore should be open-minded and accepting everyone, I also strongly believe that hardcore is a very specific kind of music and state of mind and it will never be everyone’s cup of tea.

That does not mean that hardcore can not evolve, but the culture will not change drastically.

As for everything, if you don’t like something: nobody forces you to stay or keep doing it.

What are your personal musical goals for the future and where do you see these projects going? What do you think the future of hardcore will look like in your opinion?

My number one personal goal is improving my vocals. Even though I am comfortable with the level I achieved, I refuse to leave it at this. On a personal level, one of the rules that I give to myself is to try to be a better person than the day before, both on a human level

12 10

and a skills level. In 2025 I will be focused on vocal technique and songwriting, we might even start recording if we find the time. I will also record a couple of features for some other bands, which is an exciting challenge and an honor for me. This year we will once again get the chance to play many shows, including a few dates in Denmark and Italy, and I feel extremely lucky about this. On the long run, I dream of playing on a big stage one day, or even be part of a bigger tour!

The future of hardcore has never been as bright as it currently is. I fully believe that we are witnessing a new era of heavy music, just like we had the nu metal years in the late 90s. We are now living an exciting time for metal and all its subgenres and we need to savor every second of it. Bands like Knocked Loose and Turnstile truly opened the door to heavy music to many kids and not-so-much kids, and their career is incredibly inspiring.

This sudden attention to hardcore is the reason why we see an increase of new hardcore kids, new promoters, new bands, new content creators etc. It is of course a question of time before some of them lose interest in all this, but we will get to live a few years of complete „boom“, a pure chaos of emerging bands/promoters/labels from everywhere before it slowly fades away. Once the excitement is over, I would love to witness a shift of focus from “quantity“ to “quality“ and see everyone getting all nerdy and trying to master their arts.

I also predict hardcore to feel more and more like a global phenomenon, as European hardcore bands are more and more respected, and Asian hardcore is finally being put on the map. I am already so hyped to witness all of this!

Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers the last words are for sure yours!

I say this constantly to my friends and family: nothing is completely black, nothing is completely white, reality is very grey. I truly hope that my experiences and my words shed some light on my vision of hardcore but also my values in life. Music wise… We need more labels and promoters. Just get started. Book the bands you love and give them a platform! All bands will be so thankful for your hard work, I promise you. If releasing music and promoting shows is not for you, do not hesitate to create any other kind of projects and share your talents and your uniqueness with the rest of the world. Your dream might be making quality cowboy hats with band logos or creating silly mosh videos with cats, whatever it is, just make it happen!

13 11

Italy – a land of breathtaking landscapes, Renaissance masterpieces, and culinary excellence. But beneath its sun-soaked piazzas and rolling Tuscan hills lies a darker undercurrent, one drenched in blood and cinematic nightmares. Italian horror, spearheaded by visionaries like Lucio

14 12

Fulci, carved out a legacy of unrelenting terror, blending grotesque imagery with dreamlike storytelling. It’s within this eerie contrast, between beauty and brutality, that the death metal band Fulci thrives. Named after the legendary director, the band distills the gruesome spirit of his

films into a sonic onslaught, transforming Italy’s horror heritage into a relentless, bone-crushing soundtrack of death. We sat down with Fulci’s drummer Edoardo to talk about Death Metal and the unique (and weird) aesthetics of Italian horror cinema.

Fulci has been around for several years with members that come from different corners of Italy. Edoardo explains how the band got formed – despite the geographical distance as well as the noticeable age gap between the members:

Fulci was formed in Caserta from an idea by Dom and Fiore. They wanted to join their extreme passion for Death Metal music and Italian horror cinema. They decided to name the band after the godfather of gore: Lucio Fulci. I joined the band later, but I know that this has always been the core idea and concept within the group. Over the years, it has been refined more and more to achieve a better result. We come from different parts of Italy, but what unites us is definitely our passion and dedication to death metal music, as well as a great love for horror movies. That’s what connects us the most! I think the age difference is only noticeable on the surface. We are very aligned on many concepts, and I believe that having members of different ages in a band can only be a positive factor – from the writing phase to stepping on stage! The contrast created by the different ways of thinking, acting, and listening to music among the band members is great. This is one of the many factors that, in my opinion, makes this band special!

13 15

Each of Fulci’s albums is built around one of Lucio Fulci’s films.

From “Tropical Sun” (Zombi, 1979) to “Exhumed Information” (Voices From Beyond, 1991) to the latest offering, “Duck Face Killings” (The New York Ripper, 1982) – these are not just records, they’re reinterpretations of cult cinema through distorted guitars and blast beats.

Dom is the mastermind behind all of this! First, we decide together which movie will be the focus of the next work, and then we start writing the songs. I believe that what truly creates the atmosphere within the album are the instrumental interludes, the samples taken from the films, and Fiore’s lyrics! Everything else is just raw and brutal Death Metal that goes straight to the point!

14 16

There’s a deliberate approach behind every lyrical decision. Fulci’s songs don’t just retell stories – they dive into them, sometimes from within the killer’s mind.

Some lyrics precisely and vividly describe the atmosphere created by a specific scene, while others are more introspective. In the case of “Duck Face Killings”, many songs accurately dive into the killer’s thoughts, his perversions, and narrate certain scenes from the movie in great detail. I think this is the best formula to convey the vibe of Italian horror cinema through the lyrics. When listening to the music and reading the lyrics, we try to recreate that same sense of horror and disgust that you experience while watching a Lucio Fulci film.

There’s no particular rule for de-

ciding how we write the lyrics.

Many times, we choose to describe a specific scene from a movie, like “Blue Inferno”, which describes the famous shark scene in “Zombi 2” or “Vile Butchery”, which refers to the morgue scene in “The New York Ripper”. There are a lot of examples I could mention! Some lyrics also refer to other films, outside of the main concept.

Tracks like “Human Scalp Collection” are a clear example; this song is a tribute to the famous 1980 film “Maniac”. The topic is very similar: a psychopathic killer in New York hunting women at night to kill them and remove their scalps. Even a track like “Il Miele Del Diavolo” isn’t part of the “The New York Ripper” concept, but it refers to the eponymous film by Lucio Fulci.

”just raw and brutal Death Metal that goes straight to the point!”

”

17 15

Ask anyone what separates Italian horror from the rest of the world, and they’ll probably say style. Ask Fulci, and the answer gets deeper.

Personally, I think Italian horror has a special focus on atmosphere and the vibe created by the film – something that is often missing in international horror movies. Also, Italian directors were very straight about gore and violence.

But one key factor rises above all: Even more important, I think, is the way Italian horror cinema values its soundtracks. If you think about it, most Italian horror films have soundtracks entirely composed by the same artist – like Goblin or Fabio Frizzi. Many times, these scores are heavily influenced by different genres, which makes Italian horror cinema even more special. Many artists who composed soundtracks for Italian horror films are still performing around the world today, and their music has become a cult phenomenon, essential for fans of the genre.

And yet, despite that rich history, Edoardo doesn’t believe the modern Italian horror scene is innovating much: I don’t see much innovation from our side in the horror genre today. I believe that the greatest directors have already given their best. However, I’m happy about the revival happening in recent years, which is also why an event like “Fulcicon” in Milan had such a huge impact on the audience.

Part of what makes Fulci’s records so immersive is their production. This is no accident – Dom handles much of the arrangement and production, but Ando, the band’s guitarist, is also a mixing engineer with deep technical expertise.

18 16

Duck Face Killings recording session

Most of the production, sound selection, and arrangement is done

by Dom, but I believe a big part of the final result is thanks to the sound engineer. Our guitarist Ando has always handled the technical side of the band, and I think without his influence, the sound of Fulci wouldn’t be the same! I am also studying sound engineering, and soon I would love to collaborate on the mixing and production phase of Fulci together with Ando.

Lucio Fulcis’ creative output wasn’t limited to only horror. He also did

TILL DEAF Recording Studio saw its first building phase in the summer of 2011. Located in Caserta (southern Italy, near Naples), it began as a personal recording project and remained that way for many years. Just before COVID hit, we completed the rest of the studio – adding a control room, storage space, and a small chill area

– to prepare for larger productions.

The studio is located on the ground floor of a beautiful old farmhouse with a large orange grove garden.

There‘s also a guesthouse on the upper floor, which is one of the main reasons why many off-site bands choose to work here: it offers a rare mix of peace and focus for the creative process.

several excursions into other genres like comedy or “Giallo”. Just as their namesake, Fulci isn’t limited to one type of music genre:

projects from the CBC collective in the past, and they still play at some live shows today. This influences the band’s sound and attitude a lot!

The drive and energy of hardcore is hard to imitate, and thanks to it, we manage to give our songs that extra element that makes them even more brutal!

Many of us come from different backgrounds, and we all have one or more side projects in hardcore or hip hop. Dom plays in Face Your Enemy and Stone Cold, Ando has BLVD OF DEATH, a super cool project inspired by 90s NYHC, and he’s also part of Cheap Date, an altrock band. I also have a project with heavy hardcore band Jorelia. Klem and Fiore were part of hardcore

19 17

20 18

Fulci has found its audience around the world. From Europe to the U.S., from the underground death metal scene to horror cinephiles, people connect with Fulci’s obsession, their aesthetic, their total commitment.

I think people have understood the concept really well! When we play live, there’s always a lot of people who come up to us and ask questions about the cinema and the concepts we talk about. It’s always a pleasure to talk with people about our passion! I believe the message has reached the fans clearly, and the goal is to bring it to as many people as possible, so everyone can get to know the masterpieces by Lucio Fulci.

A quick glance at Fulci’s tour history shows a surprising fact – most of their shows happen in the United States.

And now they’re bringing the horror to Germany: We can’t wait to come to Germany and connect with German horror lovers and moshers. We know there are many out there.

So what’s next? New album? New film concept?

We have a lot of cool things planned! We’ll definitely be touring the world and returning to the United States very soon! We’ll have some important collaborations that I can’t talk about yet, hehe.

As for a new album, unfortunately, I can’t say anything yet, but this year we’ll focus on bringing “Duck Face Killings” around, and next year we’ll see!

Thank you, Edoardo!

Thank you so much for this interview, I really enjoyed it! We can’t wait to play at the Return To Strength Festival! I, in particular, am really excited and can’t wait to be there to mosh hard af ahaha! See you soon and thanks again for this opportunity!

Lucio Fulci once said, “Violence is Italian art.” Fulci, the band takes that literally – spilling blood across genres, borders, and eardrums.

Whether you’re a horror cinephile or a death metal freak, one thing’s certain: Fulci isn’t just entertainment.

It’s a cinematic execution.

I think it’s because the American people have always had a great admiration for Italian horror cinema.

Being the people who invented Death Metal – especially the kind we’re inspired by – for them, there’s nothing better than a band that combines the rawest and most violent death metal with Italian horror cinema! Every time the band has gone to the United States, we’ve received a lot of warmth and support from the American audience, which makes us understand how loyal and passionate they are about this.

Grazie & Gore 21 19

22 1

saw a wave of new people at shows and everything felt more alive and motivating again. On that foundation we’ve made our biggest leap forward over the past 2,5 years – musically, professionally, and personally.

What do you think mainly changed in the last 10 Years especially in the regarding the Scene where you grew up?

YO! 10 Years Peace of Mind. Time goes by way to fast. Looking back on a lot of wild shows, hangouts and trashtalk with y’all! Tell us a bit about the band, especially when you look back on the development of the band.

When we began making music as Peace of Mind, most of us were in high school. Since then the band and we as individuals have gone through a lot of growth and changes. Looking back we’d break our development down into four phases: 2015–2017 was our starting point.

With two EPs and the support of Powertrip Records we made a strong entrance into the German hardcore scene. We toured Europe twice, regularly played abroad and supported bigger bands. We racked up nearly 100 shows in that short time. It was a period of learning.

Especially how to balance band life with studies and day jobs.

With high hopes we then set out to write our debut album. Our goal was to find our own sound and create 11 strong tracks. Looking back this was the most challenging phase in band history and (honestly) we failed. The album turned out too experimental in terms of sound, instrumentals and vocals. After its release in late 2018 we played some good shows, but it was a tough time for European hardcore. The scene was shrinking, dominated by US bands and as students we just didn’t have the money to be part of major tours.

In 2020 pandemic brought everything to a stop. In hindsight we can reflect that this break was exactly what we needed. It gave us space to reflect on our sound, philosophy and songwriting. We came back with a new EP and a lineup change on drums which gave us a fresh start.

After Covid the European scene

We’d say the biggest change has been the growing diversity within the scene. Back in 2015 when we started out there were only a handful of bands in hardcore with female members that we knew of. Bands like Wolf Down, We Ride, All For Nothing, Bitter Verses, and of course Walls Of Jericho. But beyond that the scene felt very male-dominated.

Thankfully, that has changed a lot over the past decade. Today we see a much wider range of identities, backgrounds, and perspectives represented in bands and in the crowd.

It’s making the scene stronger, more creative and more inclusive.

We also feel that people appreciate more than ever that hardcore can be a place free of prejudice where everyone can exist and express themselves in their own way without judgment. That understanding has really grown, and it’s made the scene a better place for everyone.

23 21

You guys accomplished something that not many german hardcore bands achieved before and played some shows in the USA. Including the „For the Children Fest“ in Los Angeles. How did you get to that huge opportunity and how was it?

In 2023 around the release of our EP “Life Long Tragedy” we got offered to tour with Vamachara from LA for 17 days. Unfortunately they had to cancel the tour last minute but we decided to go through with it and hit the road on our own.

That tour ended up being a turning point, because it’s how we connected with SoS Bookings. When they heard that we’d be recording our next album in LA in December 2024, things started falling into place naturally from there. It’s been a wild ride, and we’re super grateful for how one unexpected situation led to such a massive opportunity.

“Moshing Hard gives you Peace of Mind“ was written on a special shirt for FTC Fest. Regarding that, how was the reaction of the US crowd to an up and coming german HC Band?

24 22

Honestly, we had no idea what to expect but it ended up being one of the best live experiences we‘ve ever had. The West Coast is currently the biggest hardcore scene in the world (quote from Lumpy Daze Records / Josef Sunami) and we were welcomed with open arms. A lot of people were just genuinely stoked to see a band from another continent. We could feel the curiosity and excitement as we hit the stage.

Our show in Oxnard was wild. It was a young and energetic crowd in a dance room. In the room were mirrors on the walls and it was a floor show. Around 250 people went off and the vibe was unreal. Top 3 Pit experience over the last 10 years.

Las Vegas was a different setting – a show in a veteran‘s bar. Mindforce had to cancel last minute but the crowd didn’t care. The energy was still through the roof, and we got such great feedback from everyone there. Spending two days at FTC Fest was surreal. Catching up with people we usually only see in Europe when we support US bands and sharing the stage with Gorilla Biscuits, 100 Demons, Minority Unit,

On Broken Wings, Big Boy, Never Ending Game… it was insane. People showed up early, the reactions were amazing – and by the end of it, our FTC shirt was completely sold out. We’re incredibly thankful for that experience. In conclusion we can say that people moshed hard to find their Peace Of Mind.

While being in the US you also took the chance to record some new songs at the Pit Studios. Also something not too usual for a German Hardore band. How can we imagine the recording sessions with Taylor Young?

The best thing about working with Taylor is that he brings a clear philosophy and vision to every project. He took a deep dive into our pre-production tracks beforehand and came prepared with strong ideas to shape the sound.

For example, we initially wanted to use a 5150 amp for the second guitar – but Taylor straight up said NO, haha. Instead he introduced us to his own amp selection and we ended up loving the tones he suggested. Of course recording a full album and spending long days together in a small room can be intense but with Taylor it was honestly a blast. We laughed a lot, shared stories about touring, talked about American sports, had good food expectances and overall we had a great time. In the end we truly feel like we created the best music we’ve ever written. The trip to LA was absolutely worth it. In this regard we also have to thank Josi Hoffmann for documenting the time in the studio and our live shows.

25

Can you give us a little sneak peak into the new songs and what can we expect on the next release?

We can’t give away too much just yet but there will definitely be a new single dropping before the Return To Strenght Festival.

Also 2 (Bite The Bullte & Seek The Light) of 10 songs are already released on our LP Promo Tape 2024.

In general we can say: expect faster tempos, heavier riffs, and more raw energy. We really leaned into the hardcore roots on this one without holding back on the brutality.

There will also be some very special features on the record that we’re hyped to share soon. We achieved a lyrically and musically point where we wanted to be.

the first time. Experiences we probably wouldn’t have had anywhere else in the world. It was genuinely impressive feeling the energy of the crowd at every second at our shows.

Noticed y’all going to the UK a lot lately. Can you compare the scenes there, mainland europe and USA?

Going into a bit of nostalgia as I remember a lot of shows that you played for our Down4Life Showcase in Nürnberg, visiting you guys in Sonneberg or Erfurt and having a blast every time that we met. What are your highlights of the last 10 years of being a band?

We‘ve noticed that in recent years, European hardcore has become more welcomed recognized in the UK. We‘d even say that the effects of Brexit haven‘t closed things off in the hardcore scene.

In fact there‘s an effort to connect UK hardcore with European hardcore. The audience who showed up is kinda similar to the European hardcore crowd. Maybe just a bit more intense in the pit, haha. Cities like London, Leeds and Glasgow really stood out to us and convinced us that playing regular shows in the UK and Scotland (Freedom) is something special.

Since we‘ve only been to the WestCoast in the U.S. so far we’d call that a unique experience. In that region you can really feel that hardcore holds a more significant place in society. That led to some experiences as a band visiting the U.S. for 26 24

Through up and downs it was reflectively every time a highlight being together in a band. We are all friends for life and having the best time. It’s privilege to travel together around the world, sharing our thoughts on stage and enjoying the vibe of hardcore music with other people.

Im really looking forward to Return to Strength Fest this year with a special anniversary set! What surprises can we expect - we wanna go hard!

30 minutes of madness!

Anything else you want to mention?

The last words are yours! Thank you for answering all our questions and on to the next 10 Years of trying to find my Peace of Mind!

Hardcore is the greatest club in the world. Start a band, organize concerts, start a fanzine, support other bands, events and labels wherever you can. Give everyone the space to experience hardcore with the community and feel the participation. Just don‘t be an asshole then hardcore will feel like a family.

27 25

WRITTEN BY DOMINIK B.

It’s been a decade since Marcel last appeared in our zine – so this one feels a bit like a reunion. Marcel returns to talk about life, hardcore and tattooing. From his deep-rooted connection to the hardcore scene, his DIY mindset and his dedication to tattooing. Marcel opens up about his journey in the scene to finding his career path as a tattooer and his return to music with his new band Weightless and why tattooing and hardcore might be two different worlds – but feel like the same to him.

A heartfelt and honest catch-up with someone who’s still in it for all the right reasons.

Thanks for having me, and a big shoutout to you guys for putting so much work into this.

I really hope that people still appreciate printed fanzines like yours!

Self-presentation always feels a little weird for me, but here it goes: I’m Marcel, I do tattoos. The last interview I did for this zine was already 10 years ago – crazy how time flies! I’m still living in Duisburg, in the Ruhr area, Germany.

Hey Marcel, thank you for taking the time for us! Why don’t you kick things off by telling us a bit about yourself?

I started hitting up shows when I was 15 years old. I didn’t know a single person in the room, but I was

28 26

How did you get into the hardcore scene? I know you used to book shows and played in bands back in the day, too.

hooked from day one. Social media wasn’t a thing yet, so flyers and word of mouth were the only ways to stay in the loop. Over time, I kept running into the same faces, and that’s how I slowly started building connections, which, in retrospect, was me becoming a hardcore kid.

Back then, I never thought I’d ever be part of this. Early on, I felt the urge not just to consume, but to be an active part of it all — whatever that meant. From then on, everything took on its own momentum… and the rest is history.

How did tattooing become part of your life?

Back then, I went through a pretty dark phase, and my career

29 27

30 28

in IT just didn’t do it for me. So I had to pull a full 180 and rethink what I actually wanted from life.

I knew I loved the music scene but let’s be real: there’s no money in playing shows for 50 kids kicking each other’s faces. Around that time, I was getting tattooed by friends from the scene, and I saw people building a life around what they love, surrounded by like-minded folks and actually making a living. What started out as a little self-experiment, just to see if drawing tattoo designs was something you could even learn, turned into my next obsession. And with a good portion of luck, the right people to guide me, and huge support from my clients: 15 years later, I’m still at it, putting in my blood and sweat and living my best life. Man, how lucky am I… For you personally, what’s the link between tattooing and the hardcore scene?

Well… I’ve never been professionally involved in the hardcore scene. It was always DIY, always non-profit. So I can’t really compare a career as a professional tattooer with a career in hardcore, whether as a musician, promoter, tour manager, or whatever. But tattooing has been my way of living life on the fringes of society. Being part of a subculture where my heart is and actually making a living by working with like-minded people all day long. I know a lot of tattooers would say that tattooing has lost its magic, but honestly, that’s just not my reality. Sure, I could list a bunch of overlaps between the tattoo and hardcore scenes but for me, it’s not really about that. For me, it’s a feeling. It just feels the same to me, while I’m fully aware that it’s two completely different things at the same time. I don’t know if that makes sense to anyone, but yeah, that’s how it is for me.

You’ve been playing in a new band called Weightless for a little while now. What made you wanna get back into playing music again?

My days of spending every weekend in band buses and dirty venues are over and I’m honestly just super grateful I got to live through that chapter. These days, tattooing is where I put all my energy. And I totally respect how much work it takes to build a reputation as a band. But do I miss it sometimes? Hell yeah. Our guitarist Mucki (Cheap Thrills, The Ice), who also happens to be one of my clients, sent me a full record that hadn’t even been released yet, telling me that he and some friends have a new band. I already knew half the guys from back in the day. Bands I did shows for, toured with… solid dudes who’ve been playing music most of their lives.

They’d already put in the work, and all they needed was someone to play bass. So now I get to be in a band where 95% of the grind is already done and I just get to enjoy the ride, play a show now and then, and have fun with it. Big shoutout to my bandmates for that opportunity.

At your last show, you played with Trail of Lies – any other bands you’d be stoked to play with down the line?

I didn’t have the chance to watch Trail of Lies, since I had a drawing to finish for my client the next day… I felt so bad not being able to enjoy the show. And I’m not in the position to choose the bands I play with. I’m just happy to know great promoters who set up shows that I’m always happy to play. But honestly, right now, I’d prefer to play with new breeds that step up the game, rather than digging up half-dead corpses.

29 31

What’ve you been listening to lately?

Got any bands you’d recommend to people reading this?

Hardcore-related? In the last few weeks, I’ve had bands like No Cure, Dead Body, Khasm, Pain of Truth, and Whispers on repeat. I do listen to a lot of non-hardcore stuff too, but I ain’t gonna tell you about any of my guilty pleasures here.

Are there any other tattoo artists you’d recommend? And if so, what makes them stand out to you?

I always get tattooed by my homies: Sandor Jordan, Flo Krämer, Kai Schmidt, Andre Hoppe, Clemens Hahn, Yobbo and the list goes on. Great tattooers, great human beings!

To wrap things up: what can we expect from Marcel Kristensen and Weightless in the near future? Any shows, guest spots, art stuff or other projects coming up?

30 32

Weightless are going to play Ruhrpott Revival in May, which I’m really looking forward to. I just got back from a few weeks of guest spotting with Flo Krämer from Berlin. And even though I’ve already been on the road quite a bit this year, I’m now looking forward to focusing on some bigger tattoo projects here at my home base.

Right now, everyone wants their pieces done before summer hits. I also dropped some merch here and there but with my tattoo schedule being packed 7 days a week, there’s not much room for plans other than that. Might sound boring (in Germany, we say “hamster wheel”) but I just love putting everything I have into one tattoo project after another. Still, I’m not worried.

There are always new ideas and plans coming up that’ll keep me moving forward. Really appreciate the chance to be part of this — it means a lot!!

Thank you, Marcel!

33 31

34 32

Oiiii brotha! Very happy to have you here for this interview and thank you already for taking your time answering all these questions! So for anyone that isn’t familiar with who you are and what you do – could you please introduce yourself to our readers?

You already told me that fighting for your rights, fighting Nazis with any means necessary, is a day one decision and priority for you. Did the punk/hardcore scene with its mentality and way of living fuel this? How did you get into the scene back then?

My name is Lee Gavin most people call me Chief, I am an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation specifically I am Cayuse. And I am a videographer and photographer.

I kind of grew up being pushed around by racism so I think it would’ve happened eventually but I remember my mom taking the light-rail train home from work when I was about 15 and some white power fools tripped her and made fun of her on the train for crying and she came home sobbing to my dad about it. That was the moment I knew I wanted to do what I could to make them feel that same pain. I think the punk rock and hardcore scene really gave me a place where I felt accepted in this stance and seeing the antiracist message really inspired me.

So how was growing up as an Native American man? Was and is there still a lot of prejudice that you had to deal with as a kid and nowadays?

One of my very first friends I can recall told me after hanging out with him for a little bit that his dad told him he’s not allowed to be friends with native people the way it was said however was much worse. Living in a small town next to a reservation I faced a lot of racism and one of the craziest things growing up was living next to Ruby Ridge during the standoff with Randy Weaver and during that time a whole swarm of neo-Nazis came to my town. It was definitely a very scary time to be a brown kid.

35

Out here in Europe, the knowledge about Native Americans mostly comes from books & movies. So the fights you sadly still have to fight are not so aware to many people here.

What would you say is currently the most heated topic and did something already noticeably change caused by the worldwide political shift towards right winged ideologies?

I feel like these days it’s a little more wide spread and the message has shifted a little, I think if hardcore is truly for the outcasts then it should be expected that it will be a little more aggressive or violent than pop punk. But I do still see the passion and sense of family that made me fall in love with hardcore growing up.

Our fight as Native people has always been the protection of natural resources and ensuring the land we belong to is taken care of.

So honestly government as a whole to me has always been looking to exploit and destroy natural resources for one reason or another on both sides of the political fence so the fight is always ongoing to ensure we have a living ecosystem for our future generations.

Besides all the work you do for your tribe (congrats btw again on getting elected to be the vice chair for science and technology for your tribal government) you also do a lot of photography and illustrations!

Many of the illustrations are about skins, native culture and for sure creative ways of fuckin around with the government. Your style is unique and easily recognizable! Do you get the ideas from your daily experiences or what’s the main influence?

Hardcore and punk has always been against the norm, something for the outcasts and the ones that get up and draw a clear line against racism. Do you think this has become just a phrase over the past years or do you still feel like the scene is still in that place?

36

A lot of my influence comes from experience but also growing up I didn’t know any native punks or hardcore homies that weren’t my family so there was very little representation other than dumb shit like One Life Crews Chief Wahoo rip off. So really a lot of why I want to do the videos/photos/art that I do is so that Native kids get to see that we are so much more than just what we’re depicted as in the mainstream media. There’s no right way to be Native and I think that’s lost on our community sometimes.

37 35

38

The pictures you take are sick af. Most of them are bout the homies, indigenous culture, your community and the life in the reservation. They put on a crazy ass vibe and perfectly portrait the roughness of life in all its ways.

What camera are you currently using and do you carry it around all day to be able to catch all these situations?

I use a Sony A7iii mostly because it’s got amazing video capabilities and the photos are so rich and as far as me bringing it with me everywhere I absolutely do haha, like EVERYWHERE. You never know when you’re going to see something that really strikes you.

The Native homies are straight some of the coolest people I know, an hearing big drum songs mixed with hardcore makes me proud as hell every time I hear it. From the NW to the SW and everywhere in between this is Native Land and to see our people really making moves in hardcore and claiming our own corned is amazing. That sound of resistance is heard loud and clear through these bands. Huge shout out to all the Native bands and especially to the homies in End of Dayz, Inside You and Peacepipe!

I saw you lately also took pictures and videos when the homies in Desmadre hit Portland on their tour with CBK. Have you been taking pictures of shows on the regular or are those daily street and culture situations your main focus?

Shows are kind of here and there for me, mostly I am more interested in street and culture photography but with the RBS fest coming up you can expect to see some photos and video of that!

I stumbled across a lot of native related hc bands lately. Probably even more since I’ve been to the NW and

The current administration seems to take big steps backwards with canceling fundings, targeting achievements and trying to make it even harder to take the land back that belongs to you, the native people. What issues you think gonna be even more present, specially for you, your community and the tribe?

For my people and many others Indigenous to North America I know the biggest issue we’re facing is the destruction of sacred sites for the extraction of resources, the

got to know y’all and the homies!

End of Dayz, Peacepipe, Inside You and Land Lost are only a few to name here. They all been banging shit up and I love the way for example Inside You works with indigenous chants as hard ass samples. Since you’re kinda an OG of the scene – does it make you proud to see the next generation using HC and punk to get their demands more public attention?

Honestly the way the younger generation of hardcore is coming into its own with crazy Native representation is blowing my mind.

It’s a big reason I want to get out and video/photo any and all of it.

poisoning and pollution of water ways and limited access to first foods (our traditionally harvested/ hunted foods). With a Trump presidency we also see a huge spike in radical racism. Even just a few months in there are a growing number of Nazi crews trying to come out of the woodwork. They’re free to pop out and get smashed though I guess, in a way it’s better to see them for who they are instead of them hiding in the shadows, at least this way they have to answer for their shitty, hateful views.

39 37

Forreal! Fuck a fencewalker and fuck these lames. They gonna get their ass whooped one or another way.

Lets wrap this one up with a quick and easy Q&A: What is your current favorite hardcore, punk or Oi band?

Favorites are always hard to nail down but for right now I’d have to say I’ve been listening to a LOT of Haywire 617 from the US. Frybread or smoked salmon?

I’m definitely a put my salmon on my frybread offender, why have them separate when they can live in harmony together?!

Dice games and beers with the homies or a chill day fishing?

Honestly, dice games and beers with the homies. But a chill day fishing is most necessary to get in.

Analog or digital camera?

Don’t hate me for this cause I know film is gospel but honestly I like the digital. But that’s also because I’m shooting video and photos most of the time concurrently so I need to have something I can switch back and forth with.

40 38

Thank you again for your time answering all these questions. I truly appreciate that brotha – you know the deal, the last words are for sure yours!

Life is hard and the world can be a nightmare, specifically right now we are living in some crazy times and you don’t know what the next person is going through, so I leave you with the immortal words of Bill S. Preston Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan, “Be excellent to each other, and party on dudes” Also huge shout out to all of the Indigenous foos from the tip of North America to the very bottom of South America holding it down doing cool shit in hardcore right now, and much love to all the Native Skinheads keeping up the fight against white supremacy and upholding our traditions & culture!

41 39

42 40

Ayeeee yo brothers! Very happy to have you both here for this interview and excited to take the deep dive into Portland hardcore, your band and for sure also your personal views and future plans! First of all - for everyone that isn’t familiar with you guys: could you please introduce yourself to our readers!

early 80‘s, the first CD I bought was “Damaged“ by Black Flag.

American Hardcore intrigued me.

That snowballed quickly, I got involved with the straight edge movement and found so many new bands in that world. I slowly got more involed in HC than punk, and that‘s how I ended up here today.

Robert: First off thank you for having us on the zine, it means a ton to us. I’m Robert and I play bass in Slime from the Pacific Northwest USA, straight outta Portland, Oregon.

How would you describe the scene out there in the NW. What’s maybe the main difference to other big scenes out in California or the east coast?

Shane: Hi everyone, I‘m Shane and I do the vocals for Slime NW! What was your personal way into hardcore and punk - and in what way (if there is one) is your city Portland connected to this journey?

Shane: In the 90’s my older brother was really into bands like Pantera and Korn. I also had an older cousin that was into Black Flag and Suicidal. Being exposed to those bands young had me interested in aggressive music. In the early 2000’s you used to be able to preview cd’s through headphone stations at music stores. I remember seeing Hatebreeds satisfaction album and thinking it looked like something my fam would listen to. After listening to a preview of a song in the store I was hooked.

Robert: Personally for me, I grew up listening to street punk, my mom was a punk in LA in the

Robert: I‘m not sure I can speak on differences too much, just because NWHC is the only scene i‘ve ever been involved in, but touring the west coast, and having friends from other scenes in parts of the country, I can say that hardcore has the same values at base level no matter what city you‘re in. I think the thing that seperates NWHC from the rest is the mentality, this part of the country is unique, and I think bands up here have a different energy to them in my experience.

Not saying anyones cooler, or better, I just think we are unique here in the circle of bands/friends/ideals and it brings all of us super close.

Shane: The scene in Portland is kinda smaller than other scenes which makes us all very close knit. It’s also kind of a melting pot nowadays where a lot people are moving here and trying to do things with music. Everyone does a good job of supporting each other and there is strong feel of community.

41 43

Talking about the scene - let’s jump right into the main fuckin topic! Your band Slime (y’all already know we got some OG german punk band called Slime from 1979 here too haha). The live footage of your shows is legendary, specially when the whole room jumps on stage to scream “SLIME!“.

I know y’all been working hard af to get to the point you currently are with the band. How did it all start and did you expect it to become what it is now - a Northwest legend?

Robert: Haha, shout out to the german Slime, we have had some comments here and there about the name! We are so completly different that I don‘t think we get confused at all with them. We brand the name Slime NW for the most part, Shane started the vision and had our early demos written. We used to play music 6-7 years prior, Shane, Adam (our drummer) and myself were in a band called Born To Die, when Shane hit us up about doing this band, it was super exciting. The scene here had fallen off pretty hard back in 2015/16, just due to a lack of places wanting to do shows, no real main booking/promo that was DIY and not some agent or managment looking to make money off it. We all kind of had been focused on life shit. It came together really organically for us.

44 42

From the past, to the present - but what’s the plan for the future of Slime? And how do these goals maybe correspond with your personal goals in other parts besides the band?

Shane: Slime started in my bedroom with me writing and recording songs on my laptop. It started as a way for me to sonically reflect on the negative realities faced throughout my life. None of what has followed has ever been apart of that plan. It was never about doing it for anyone other than ourselves and not giving caring what people thought about it. The love that we have received has been an immeasurable bonus and there are not enough words convey the gratitude we have.

Robert: I think our goal at first was just to make something real and talk about the shit we see on the daily living here in the city.

Portland Oregon has always been known as kind of a junkie city, and when fentanyl hit our streets around 2018/19, it completely changed our environment as we knew it here. Needles, foil, trash, open air drug markets on the streets, excrament, infection, disease, pure hell, living zombies walking around.

Gun violence, robberies, real trife shit going on. The east side of our city, we call “the numbers“, because we are on a grid system and all the streets are parelelle, so it starts from 1st Ave, and goes east out to 242nd Ave. Pretty much everywhere between 72nd to 181st is gnarly, and I feel like we just wanted to express the way we felt about it all.

The later releases I feel focused on more so personal struggle and growth through dealing with such a fucked up environment, steel sharpening steel mentality, and I think that‘s one of my favorite things is just excapsulating the views we see daily here. The future I see for us is just being able to travel, connect with people who understand the same struggles we go through individually, and just play music with our friends and connect.

Shane: For me the future goals of Slime really are staying true to with DIY and finding ways to give back to the scene. Whether that be through writing, playing shows, touring, supporting other DIY bands, or just general life. Inspiring the younger generations to not fall into the same bullshit that we went through while also passing down ethical values. There is always a choice to not be confined to self pity and instead turn a negative to positive through that DIY attitude. Nothing is out of reach.

The LP you guys released last October is a true banger. Hard af, fight riffs over fight riffs all mixed together with dark vibes and an overall powerful set of varieties that make it a (in my opinion) perfect release! What was your main influence during writing, not just for riffs and everything, also regarding the lyrics?

Robert: Thank you! I‘m super stoked on the last release “Outside Mentality“. I have to shout out our enginner Joe Anderson from Helvete Studios. He has been a major key in capturing our true sound since day 1 (aside from our Demo that we did all ourselves). For me personally I‘m pretty hands off with writing songs.

Shane and our guitarist Sean really do the most work. I try and throw a lot of my own style and groove on the bass parts, and the tone I have created has warrented a lot of really cool feedback from people. I think my style just helps add to the overall sound of the records we have put out and at live shows.

Shane: There was a lot of narration that went into this LP. Really wanted to translate past experiences lyrically in a way that would match the overall tone of each song. The inspiration comes from real events and hardships that I have personally experienced. The intention wasn’t to glorify any type of lifestyle because anyone who has really lived that way knows how fucked up it is, instead it was a translation of the things I wanted to let go of. Being tough is always going to be a trendy accessory for insecurity but being vulnerable through humility is something you can’t act. That will always outlive fake personas and subliminally Outside Mentality is the demonstration of those concepts.

45 43

Let’s get to my main personal question - when do we guys gonna get wild out here? Slime, Europe - let’s fuckin go!

Any tours or big events in the plans?

Robert: Man, that‘s the ultimate goal to go international. We gotta get out to see you ASAP man. We have some weekend runs this year planned, some really sick shows. No major tour planned at the moment but something that‘s on the radar for the future. I‘m super excited to get out to OKC in June with our boys in Peeling Flesh. We have kind of a hard time due to our drummer being a senior Paramedic and having a very strict schedule, but we do our best to make everything work so we can all be together. I personally feel that Adam is the glue for our sound.

We are super tight knit as a band.

Shane: It would be a dream come true to hit Europe! I am going to be getting my passport soon so who knows. As far as other tours go right now we don’t have anything serious planned other than a few smaller DIY weekend runs.

While I was out there, seeing you guys not only once but 2 times playing live within a week, was crazy! The whole ass tour with Peeling Flesh, Snuffed On Sight and the other bangers looked fun af! Let us know your personal highlight and maybe also personal lowest point of the experience.

Robert: It was such a dope time getting to see you not only in Seattle but Portland too. Can‘t thank you enough for taking time out of your international trip to catch those shows. Peeling Flesh showed us nothing but straight up love, that was the biggest run we have done as a band down the whole west coast and it was the most fun. We played some of the sickest shows I ever have played. We‘re lucky enough that our label BLEAKHOUSE has a nice van for us to use which takes a lot of stress off us. That definetly helped a lot! My personal low point was the last day in San Diego was the 1 year aniversary of my dads death so that was hard, but wouldn‘t have wanted to be anywhere elese except with my brothers playing a gig.

Shane: Biggest shout out to Peeling flesh, Snuffed, Corpse Pile, and Two Piece for inviting us out on that. That whole experience was relentlessly crazy. Definite highs from that run we’re seeing 2 pits during our set at 1720 and getting to swim with the homies on the last day.

That was sick as fuck. The only low I can remember was waking up in the van at 3am with a fucked up stomach ache begging to stop. Besides that the whole tour been crazy good!

I‘m incredibly happy y’all took the time to answer our questions and I truly appreciate that! I can’t wait to kick it again soon wether it’s in the NW or out here in Europe! Y‘all know the drill, last words are yours brothers!

46 44

Robert: Super stoked to be part of the BTL Zine and thank you for all the support and love you‘ve shown us. I can‘t wait to get out there to play and hangout. You put in crazy work to provide for the scene just on the love of the game and it‘s hard to find people dedicated as you, so thank you Julius.

Shane: Really appreciate all the love and the opportunity to do this interview. Mad love and respect to everyone who has been rockin with us from the start. Do what you want and fuck what anyone else has to say!

47 45 73

written by Hubert S. Missing Link is a hardcore band from Upstate New York that released their debut album “Watch Me Bleed” last year on Triple B Records. In my opinion it’s one of the best Hardcore Records in 2024. Therefore it was a pleasure to ask Mike - the singer of the band - a few questions.

How are you and what’s going on in your life right now?

I‘m good. Super busy. Between being a dad, husband, business owner, and Missing Link obligations, I am insanely busy.

Hey Mike, first of all congrats on one of the hardest even the best hardcore record of 2024. Thanks for your time!

Sounds great! Let‘s dive directly in: Who is Missing Link, where do you guys know each other from and how did the whole project start?

Thanks man! Means a lot.

And thank you for your patience.

My turn around times aren‘t great.

We’ve all known each other for a long time through playing in other bands and stuff like that. Our

48 46

former bass player Victor pieced us all together during covid, and we‘ve been rolling ever since.

And before that - how did you get into hardcore and what was your first contact? Do you remember your first show, the impressions and how did you feel about it?

I got into hardcore in 2003. My older cousin and neighborhood friends were into it and I got into it that way. My first show was If Hope Dies. It was incredible and I was instantly hooked.

After a demo and two EPs you got a deal with the mighty Triple B Records, where your debut LP “Watch me Bleed” was released. Did you have any other labels who were interested to release your first full length and how came that deal with BBB together?

Honestly, not really sure. We had started working with Triple B soon after our EP and the plan was always to release an LP with Sam from that point on.

Your lyrics are pretty dark, is it only personal stuff you put into them or where did you get your inspiration from? Are you the only one who writes lyrics or is the whole band involved?

Who is mainly writing the songs and what are your musical influences?

My lyrics are definitely personal and I reference a lot of things that resonate with me, from books, to movies to other music. I am the only lyricist, so I gotta make sure I‘m on point.

Evan, and Nik are our main songwriters, but at this point everyone in the band is involved.

Who‘s that peeking in your window?

Can you tell the story behind the lyrics and how did you feel about what happened the next day?

The story behind the lyrics to that track are just me being paranoid a lot. Specifically there was a night I was walking around my house naked with a gun because I was convinced someone was inside.

The next morning was like any other...I got up and went to work.

47 49

After releasing the album last year, you also played your first EU tour with Gridiron, NEG and Magnitude.

Tell me about that tour, did you enjoy Europe, what were the hightlights?

Any funny Storys you can tell us?

Yeah, back in the day John asked me to fill in, and we had been friends since I was a kid. Plus, with an opportunity to go to Europe the first time in my life, I was very excited.

That was the best tour of my life.

Such a blast with some of our best friends. Opening Outbreak Fest to a ton of people who knew our new songs only a month after the record came out was amazing.

Let’s talk a little about living in Upstate NY and the scene there. Where there any big changes the last 10 years especialy after Covid? Any local bands you can reccomend?

But it wasn‘t your first time being in Europe, right? I saw you helping out for CDC on their last EU run. How did that happen?

50 48

Living upstate sucks ass. Post covid things pretty much stayed the same after they got rolling again. As far as local bands I‘d say Azshara and War Nerve.

The world currently is going crazy and not only in the US, lots of political changes happened. How do you personally feel about that?

I do my best not to get wrapped in politics because I have a family to provide for. End of the day I‘m going to do whatever I have to regardless of who‘s in office. I hate em all.

What are Missing Link‘s future plans?

Any new music, tours, …?

Currently working on new music... touring Southeast Asia, Japan, and Europe this summer.

Before we come to the end, let‘s do a quick brainstorming session: Favorite newcomer?

My favorite newer band is Crush Your Soul- though I‘d say they‘re hardly newcomers.

Last record you bought?

I buy a lot of records, but off the top of my head I believe Stout‘s Sleep Bitch I know it‘s hard to pick one, but favorite Crowbar Record?

It‘s “Either Odd Fellow‘s Rest” or “Sonic Excess”.

Favorite Euro HC Band?

Man.... there‘s a lot. Ever? Probably Kickback, Born From Pain, No Turning Back... the list is honestly endless. And that‘s not even including UK stuff.

Thanks again for your time!

The last words are yours.

Thank you!

51 49

52 50

Hello dear RATS gang. I think we all know the Return To Strength Festival, which you guys organize every year at the beginning of summer in Querfurt.

And we‘ve already talked about it in the Between the Lines Zine. (Issue 02 from 2013) But what we have never talked about is your DIY youth center, which you have built up over the years parallel to the RTS Festival. We also think it‘s incredibly important to pay more attention to DIY youth centers outside of the metropolitan areas.

Please introduce yourselves briefly.

Well hello, Moin Meiner. I‘m Flori, I‘ve been part of the EPHC association, RATS and RTS since day one. Thank you for the opportunity to answer an interview here.

How did it come about to create a youth center in Obhausen and what was your motivation? What came first, the RTS or the RATS? How and when did it all get rolling?

How did the name come about?

We had already organized our first concerts in various local cultural venues, party rooms, etc. But we had been looking for our own permanent location for several years. The wrestler lobby, where most of the bands at the RTS are always accommodated, was another venue we had looked at. However, the town of Querfurt then told us that it would become a salt store for the town, as the building fabric was no longer suitable. Now, almost 15 years later, it is still not a salt store, but there is an exotic bird breeders‘ association in there. But we work with them every year for the RTS.

Back then, there was a skate hall in Obhausen, a former VEB tractor factory building. We used to organize the CFF “Cause of Chaos” release show there. The stage was still a halfpipe back then. I would say that was basically the starting signal for RATS. That must have been in 2012. The skaters had to leave at some point and we were able to continue operating the smaller part of the hall. When we were looking for a name, we didn‘t have an easy time at first, with lots of suggestions, very few of which were viable. But since everyone only pronounces RTS as an abbreviation anyway, we eventually came up with the idea of simply adding a letter and “rats” suited us much better than anything else anyway.

What different projects, events and other stuff have there been in the past?

We have all kinds of different events. My favorites are Hardcore Punk concerts. But we‘ve also had a wide variety of lectures on topics such as “GDR punk” or “The March actions of the KPD 1921”, singer-songwriters, retro games or pub evenings. We have also held workshops on various topics such as “Behavior at demonstrations”, graffiti or sound technology workshops. We have now held our annual summer party twice.

We also rent out to people we know for private parties or when people want to put on a show and would like to use RATS as the location for that.

53

What do you think about your capacity, when do you call it “sold out”?

I would say the best-attended show was the aforementioned CFF Release Show, with 125 visitors and an additional 6 bands and helpers.

But the RATS looked completely different then. No toilets and no rooms on the left-hand side. At the moment, I would say we could comfortably let in 100 people, but there would certainly be room for more.

How many members does the E.V. currently have? Is the trend increasing? Are you growing and are the young people in your geographical area still motivated to get active?

It‘s difficult to say, as membership is only of limited importance to us. We have around 10 to 15 active members and certainly another 10-15 inactive members, but the boundaries are blurred here as we also have people who help out at the RTS without being members.

Growth is restrained, but tending to increase compared to recent years. Some have joined from the local area, but our membership is limited to a larger geographical area. But, at least I know it from my youth, hardcore was never something for the general public, and probably never wanted to be, but that didn‘t always bring the masses of young people into our ranks.

54

Are you still motivated? What are your goals? Do you have a vision? Do you want to expand your capacities?

Also with regard to the RTS Festival.

I would say yes, but, and I‘m only speaking for myself here, it‘s different than it used to be. Both professionally and privately, I no longer feel like making time for events that I don‘t fully support.

Instead, I‘m much more interested in other things. I would rather focus on “quality than quantity”.

But I think that other members here have a different idea. In most cases, that‘s fine with me, but in others it‘s not, and that can lead to discussions within the association.

Of course, our aim is to get more people interested in our events.

That also applies to the RTS, of course, and at the moment it looks like we‘re succeeding there too.

And what about the cooperation with the town of Querfurt or the municipality of Obhausen? How is the connection and support from their side?

With the municipality of Weida -Land, as Obhausen is a village in this municipality. Cooperation has always been relatively good. I would say there have never been any major problems. The municipal workers are really good and help us with the RTS every year, because our merch tent, for example, belongs to the village of Obhausen.

When we needed chairs for events, it was never a problem to get them and even using the toilets when we didn‘t have our own was always fine.

It wasn‘t always like that with the town of Querfurt, especially in the first few years they were always very skeptical of us and the RTS Fest. Pointlessly high costs were the norm. However, this improved at the latest with the new mayor, who was actually always there as a visitor and we were also able to stabilize the cooperation with the soccer team VfL Querfurt (“Hier regiert der VfL!”). Thanks again to Robi Stöhr and all the VfL people!

How often have there been incidents and disturbances caused by rightwing idiots and/or the police? Have you ever had to end an event prematurely cause of bullshit like this?

In fact, we only had to remove a few Nazi stickers once, and that was years ago. Apart from that, the local fascists have always given us a wide berth. There hasn‘t been anything worth mentioning with the police at the RATS yet.

At the RTS Fest in the first year we had a tent tarpaulin cut up, thanks to the Nazis. But as the police haven‘t been able to investigate anything to date, at least I‘ve never heard anything about the report I made, we investigated ourselves and were able to sort it out.

55 53

In retrospect, it was a very funny story. But it‘s far too long to tell here. During the RTS, there was a incident in the GMS hall in the first year with a local Nazi in a Thor Steinar jacket. He then had to put his feet up after receiving a physical reprimand and then there was another similar incident in 2016. An influential Nazi from the Harz region was there dressed as a normal “HC kid”, but was recognized. I found photos of him as a banner bearer of a Nazi group from the Harz region and as a martial arts guy. We made him leave the area immediatly!

56 54

How do you see the future in relation to the current political and cultural situation in Germany? Have you noticed any changes in recent years with the political changes?

I can only speak for myself. I think that if the fascist AfD continues to make gains, it will become increasingly difficult for the (sub) cultural sector, as the AfD will suspend previous support and subculture will no longer be given any freedom. But that may already be possible with the CDU. And the fact that we are seen as a “left-wing space”, I fear that many obstacles will be put in our way.

Do you have an awareness concept?

What do you do if something happens ?

How do you ensure that people of all genders, sexualities and backgrounds feel equally comfortable?

How do you finance yourselves? Are you dependent on donations, can you guarantee your profitability independently or is finance secondary?

We usually just write “no assholes and Nazis” on our flyers, so we have relatively good room for maneuver. This means that any-one who misbehaves, no matter how, will be kicked out. All club members and helpers present have been briefed and will do their utmost to ensure that all visitors feel safe and comfortable.

The RATS is completely privately financed by the EPHC Association and the profits of the RTS Fest. The EPHC Association is the association behind the RTS and the RATS. We currently do not take membership fees because it isn’t financially necessary and do not want to burden our members financially in times of inflation.

Helping hands should not fail because of the paywall. Therefore - also in relation to your previous question - we are currently not experiencing any financial changes. Donations are of course always welcome, as they enable us to purchase certain things, such as building materials.

Top 3 coolest events you‘ve done so far, apart from the RTS Festival? What were the worst, both in your eyes and from the perspective of your guests?

In my opinion it was CFF Release Show with The Last Charge, Drown in your Blood, Outta Control, Dos Dias De Sangre in 2012, World of Pain, Desolated, Done, CFF in 2013 and a small sunday matinee in 2024 with Ghetto Justice, Becoming AD, Haywire.

But we‘ve done so many shows over the years that I have to say I don‘t really remember many of them, haha.

Bad, hmm, tough question haha If I think bands are trash, then I‘ve either walked out or sometimes not even come to the concert and I think my view and the audience‘s view are often completely different. That‘s why I can‘t allow myself to judge, or rather, I shouldn‘t.

Thank you very much for your time and work that you have been putting into the hardcore punk and metal subculture for years. Keep up the good work and stay healthy. The last words are as always yours. :) Thanks again for the interview, thanks for letting us be part of this zine. Please continue to do so.

To all the people out there: Bleibt sauber! Get active against the AfD and all other Nazis, get organized, create (sub)culture, whether zines, bands, designs, as organizers!

Visit us at RATS or help us out, and come to the Return to Strength Fest!

Kiss, Flori

57 55

58 56

It’s not just a wave of new bands pushing the scene forward; it’s the unstoppable DIY spirit, fueled by passionate bookings and sold-out shows. For the past decade, the South had its quiet moments – but that’s over. If you‘re deep into the subculture, you already know: BNL Booking is at the heart of it all.

Last fall, it all built up to the next level: BNL Fest – their first-ever one-day hardcore festival.

A killer location, tattoo artists and vegan food on-site. But the real highlight?

Two-steps, sweat-drenched singalongs and pure, unfiltered energy from the first riff on. 250 dedicated visitors, discounts for younger fans and free entry for those under 18 – because hardcore should be for everyone.

BNL Booking? Yeah, they know exactly how it’s done.

SGHC

ON TOP!

Hey! Introduce yourselves – who’s behind BNL Booking and how did it all come together?

Hey there, BNL Booking started out in early 2024 as an idea between Jan and me (Robin). We both play in a band together and used to organize local shows in the Stuttgart area before we knew each other. One day on our way to a show with the band we just sat together and contemplated having more hardcore shows in Stuttgart again and to revive the local scene. This is also how the name “Breathe New Life Booking” came about. We want to put Stuttgart back on the map, not only with our band but also with shows by bringing cool artists and friends to the city. We are also fortunate enough to be able to cooperate with Juha West for most of

our shows. Flo has been around for more than a decade as a promoter and booker in Stuttgart and his trust in us and our vision has helped a lot to kick off our booking.

You organize both smaller club shows and an entire festival. How big is the difference in planning, and what was the most challenging part of putting on the festival?

For both the festival and club shows we are lucky enough to work with great people. Flo from Juha West and Lukas from Zinsholz are both amazing and have been planning shows and playing in bands for a long time. They know the drill and are up to try new things. This really makes it easy for us to put up shows.

59 57

All the staff at Juha West in Stuttgart and Zinsholz in Ostfildern are doing a great job and without them it would not be possible.

The most challenging part about putting up the festival is the amount of acts playing, having a dynamic lineup, and logistics. All of this requires some planning and fruitful thoughts but we know why and for whom we are doing this which makes it way easier.

You’re doing this all by just the two of you – how do you manage to pull it off?

To be honest, we just do it and try to make it work. I think what drives us is the idea of creating an environment in our city, especially for young people, where they can experience and live the hardcore subculture. Also we just got some reinforcement from our long time friend Andreas Kemper, who some of you might know from his Shows

60 58

a couple years ago at JaB Nürtingen.

So we‘re officially a three piece now and we got a great group of voluntary helpers assisting us on the days of our shows, big love to those people! We want to enrich the Stuttgart subculture with this spirit and establish a thriving scene by making people come to shows, start bands, start booking, taking photos, or introducing them to heavy music.

A standout feature was offering free entry for under-18s. Why was that important to you?

As mentioned before, the scene can only grow and thrive by introducing young people to it. They form the backbone of the scene as they will form bands, go to more shows, tell people about it and dive into the subculture. They are the future and we are thankful to see that more and more young people come to our shows and start getting involved in our local scene.

JAN

We all know times can be tough regarding money, especially as a student or apprentice so we decided to give free entry under 18 to give the younger ones the opportunity to still experience what we love.

Both of you play in bands yourselves – does that experience help you with booking and organizing events?

The biggest advantage for us is that we know people and bands in the scene. This helps a ton when organizing shows and the festival. Also you get a nice change of perspective, you know what makes bands feel welcome when they arrive at a show and what they could need to enjoy their time at your show since you are in the same boat on a regular basis.

How do you put together your lineups? Do you just go with your personal favorites, or do tons of bands hit you up wanting to play?

ROBIN

It’s a bit of this, a bit of that. Sometimes it’s touring bands we like listening to ourselves, sometimes its friends asking if we can make something happen for them and a lot of times it is bands we‘ve played with before that blew our mind and that we want to show to the scene in Stuttgart because we feel those bands deserve more recognition.

And in the best case its multiple or even all these things combined.

BNL Fest was a huge success! BNL Fest 2 has already been confirmed– when and where can we expect more info about it?

First wave of bands is already out by now, more will follow! We’re excited to have some great bands again this year, from Switzerland‘s finest Lifecrusher, to Belgium/NL heavy hitters Adversary, Rescue Cat from Italy and a whole lot more to come.

We will again have 10 Bands, multiple tattoo artists and nice food!

61 59

What makes a good hardcore show for you?

Easy! The energy of the crowd.

There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing people go nuts and having a great time in front of the stage or even on the stage (MORE STAGEDIVES!). Nothing beats the energy of a hardcore crowd going wild to some sick riffs.

What’s coming up next? Are there any other shows or special plans in the works?

We‘re doing this interview mid April so some of those shows will already be in the past when you’re reading this but just a small list of Bands we‘re bringing to Stuttgart this year: Chaver, XOXO, Filth, Xibalba, Terminal Sleep and many more…

And we always aim to add some sick supports to these shows, so just keep an eye on the BNL Instagram page to not miss out on what we’re up to!

With all the knowledge and experience you’ve gained now, what advice would you give to young people who want to organize shows or put on a festival themselves?

62 60

The most important thing first: It’s not rocket science. Yes, it sometimes can be a tough and pretty annoying process to book bands, negotiate with booking agents, find places for the bands to sleep, find an available FOH, all these things … but it’s not something you need to study or have a degree in. If you can find a place that is willing to let you do shows, go do shows! The hardest part is literally finding a decent venue that fits your plans.

It is a DIY culture, nobody expects you to do perfect and you develop knowledge and routine by doing it!

Thanks for your time! Any last words or shoutouts?

Too many people or names to shout out, so here’s a shoutout to Stuttgart hardcore and everyone we’ve met on the road. All the bands, venues, staff, visitors, the moshers, the headbangers … everyone grinding their ass off to keep this thing running, it’s a community effort by all of us and we‘re far from done! SGHC ON TOP!

63 61

WRITTEN BY WINNIE V. In April of 2025, Kuschconcerts brought together Finnish atmospheric death/black metal giants Sepulchral Curse and German death metal/hardcore steamroller Chaver for four concerts across Germany along the A9 Autobahn.

Sepulchral Curse was founded in 2013 in Turku, Finland, and is currently signed to Dark Descent Records. Leipzig based Chaver has been around since 2016 and is signed to BDHW Records. Both bands have undergone considerable musical development and change

64 62

in their history. What unites them both is their penchant for atmosphere and brutality.

The journey started on February 19.

The cramped nine-seater van drives directly to Berlin airport to pick up the boys from Turku. However, the van was so fully loaded with the Chaver backline and merchandise that two Leipzig guys had to take the train from the airport to the venue in Kreuzberg/Berlin so that the remaining seven could fit into the van.

Once arrived, we were said that the band that had played the day before has been robbed after the concert. Two Marshall amplifier were stolen from the van in front of the venue immediately after the show. Not to mention that we were extremely careful with our equipment that day. The venue is located right next to Görlitzer Park and the smell of weed is every where. We get in. The first thing we do at the merchandise table is to compress the merch of both bands so that we can travel together in the van the next day. Backstage, it smells like vegan charcoal stew, which pretty much delights everyone.

The organizer and chef guarantee enough caraway seeds so that nobody has to suffer. The concert was organized in cooperation with Swamp Conspiracy. The opener Sunna Sepdoom warms up the crowd, Chaver heat things up so that Sepulchral Curse can destroy everything afterwards. Each band can only play a set of about twenty minutes, because after 10 pm there must be silence, otherwise “the bartender will be taken away by the police”. This is what the past has shown. It was the first time the tour package had seen each other live at this venue. Before the first evening ends in harmony with mutual respect, beer and weed, we give away the remaining charcoal stew to a person strolling past who is still hungry, while loading the van. The equipment is complete and all have remained intact.

The next day along the A9 highway towards Nuremberg is dominated

by American restaurants and various types of Faxe beer. But more on that later. The concert takes place in the Z-Bau. Once built by the Nazis as a barracks, it is now known as the House for Contemporary Culture and is run by the Society for Cultural Freedom. Obviously there are still some nice historical developments. The concert hall, backstage and bedrooms are just as spacious as the cultural offerings in this building. This concert is organized in cooperation with Low Frequency Assaults and lets the package loose on the audience directly in the concert hall and without compromise. Both bands end their set with an encore. Nice words - like when Low Frequency Assaults offers concerts, it can‘t be bad and it even got better that day - give us strength for a long night with new acquaintances and old friends. Intense friendly conversations and Franconian beer specialties end the second day.

63 65

The next morning, some of us are up early and make our way past ghost cyclist warnings to a bakery.

As we have a little more time on this day due to the short distance to Munich, our tour manager takes us on a tour around the Kongresshalle and back again. One of the largest National Socialist monumental buildings, which was located on the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. An expression of German megalomania.

Before we get back on the highway, the wounded are supplied with counter-drinks. We arrive at the location just in time. The Kafe Kult, a lovingly managed location with a multitude of guests. Vegan lasagna with a side salad seems to be the typical Bavarian dish in alternative locations, as it was served at the Kunstverein and Kafe Kult. Delicious both times. Unarmored from Regensburg opens the evening.

Brutal old school metal played with passion. Sepulchral Curse then turns up the heat again. Chaver ends the evening with a wrecking ball. After the final farewells at the bar, it‘s straight to the accommodation for everyone, as the last two days are still in the bones.

66 64

February 22 Leipzig - Naumanns Day of the FAXEgeddon.

On this day we had to leave very early. There are casualties due to viruses fighting in the respiratory tract. However, vitamin supplements, a healthy breakfast and caffeine revive the tired spirits. On the long drive, the musical developments of both bands are discussed animatedly, while the firewater finds its way into the bloodstream.

Arriving at the Naumanns in Leipzig, we receive a warm welcome and after setting up the equipment at Naumann‘s, the sound check for Chaver follows immediately.

Meanwhile, more and more Faxe cans accumulate backstage. The signs are good for a moon under the sign of the new typical Nordic drink Faxe. That's how it works.

Sternburg beer, a Leipzig specialty, also gets its stage. More and more friends and guests filled the room.

At the same time, a wrestling event takes place in the larger hall, the Felsenkeller. As far as the outfits are concerned, there are overlaps.

Cosmic Axe from Leipzig opens the evening with moshy slam parts.

This is followed by Putridarium with a bass-heavy death metal

roller. Hair is raised occasionally. Movement comes into play.

Sepulchral Curse gives their all and blasts their spherical but uncompromising death metal into the room. Naumanns is getting fuller and the sound is getting louder from band to band. Chaver performs in front of their home crowd as headliners. Now things really get moving. The new songs as well as the old hardcore-heavy songs are celebrated hard. Non-stop hit “Ultimate Abuse” ends the evening as an encore. The hobby that emerged from the tour, the celebration of Faxe enjoyment, is now taken seriously. The one-liter cans are emptied like there‘s no tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the merchandise game is running. After that, the backline and the musicians are loaded into the van. Together they are taken to the Chaver rehearsal room and the connection between the forecourt and nature, in the form of blackberry bushes, is cursed. Thorns are everywhere in the darkness.

It‘s the middle of the night when everyone says goodbye and vows to see each other again, next time in Finland in 2026.

65 67

WRITTEN BY FLORUS L.

Pieter - it’s a real pleasure to have you for this year’s issue of the BTL Fanzine. We have met during your bands European tour where I was hosting a show for you guys last year.

Cape Town’s very own metallic hardcore band Peasant have been tearing up the hardcore and metal scene with their unapologetic, high-energy 68 66

sound and intense live performances.

Fusing brutal riffs, aggressive drumming, and raw lyrics, they’ve quickly gained recognition for their powerful and uncompromising approach to heavy music. In this interview, we dive deep into the mind of the band to explore their creative process, the elements that fuel their music, and

the challenges they‘ve faced during their existence as a band. From the gritty heart of South Africa‘s heavy music scene to their experiences on the road, Peasant opens up about their journey and the fire that continues to drive their relentless sound.

SOUTH AFRICAN HARDCORE PIETER

What are some of the biggest influences on Peasant’s music, both within and outside of hardcore/metal?

We‘re actually all into very different styles of heavy music, but when it comes to songwriting we‘re probably most influenced by alot of 80s 90s metal and the 2000s Deathwish roster. We‘ve also previously incorporated some synth elements in the past that I‘d say are probably coming from early Warp Records style music like Boards of Canada and Aphex Twin etc.

Peasant’s sound is raw, intense, and unrelenting - how would you describe your evolution as a band since you first started?

Thanks Florus! I‘d say we started out with a more hardcore punk and d-beat style influence that eventually got heavier over time. When Adri joined as vocalist in 2018 it definitely meant we had to go in a more metallic direction, which I guess is where we‘re at right now.

Your lyrics hit hard - what are some of the key messages or emotions you aim to convey through your music?

We usually end up living up to our name in terms of lyrical content, we‘ve always seen the name and the band Peasant as a conduit for the underdog. Anyone who feels out of place or discarded by society has refuge in our music, thats always been the main purpose of the band.

69 67

“A conduit for the underdog” For all the music nerds out there, can you tell us a bit about your music writing process?

I [Pieter] write most of the music and my brother [Adri] and I usually work on the lyrics together.

I‘m always demoing new music and sharing it with the others, once we have something we‘ll chat about what we want to change or add to it, demo it again, and then start playing it in the practice room.

That might sound kinda weird for some people but with us having full time jobs etc we are usually forced to use our time wisely, and this

70 68

method seems to work for us.

Now it’s time to dive into the band‘s perspective on the South African scene, exploring its unique challenges, the bond between bands, and how local culture and politics influence their music.

How would you describe the hardcore/metal scene in South Africa right now?

I think we‘re a bit out of sync with what‘s happening in SA right now. The metal and modern metalcore scene is probably bigger

than it has been in a long time, but as a hardcore band we feel out of place in the sense that alot of the DIY ethics and community aspects behind the music we make is, for the most part, completely out the window here. I guess now that we‘ve played EU twice we realise what a bonus it is to have a community around your scene and how important it is to stick at it and help each other out. It‘s awesome for us to head out on tour in EU and see these groups making cool stuff happen. If you‘re lucky enough to live somewhere where you can build on that community then get involved!

Have you faced any unique challenges as a heavy band in South Africa? How do you see the scene evolving in the coming years?

I‘m sure that a lot of the challenges we face are very similar to any other band anywhere, but one thing I would say is that touring here is not easy. Our cities are pretty far apart which makes travel

expensive and most venues don‘t have promoters or backline, so alot of that responsibility falls on us.

We‘re more likely to end up touring overseas again before we tour SA frankly.

Do you feel South African heavy bands get enough exposure internationally? What do you think can be done to push the scene further and are there any local bands you think deserve more recognition?

That‘s a tough one. I think it comes down to the fact that SA doesn‘t have a viable touring circuit.

If touring was easier, local bands would end up getting better and they would be growing a bigger audience, which would make it easier for overseas bands to come here and connect with those audiences.

All our opportunities to play in EU have come from helping other EU bands to play here. Again it comes down to having that exchange between bands and building that community. Check out Halvar, The Talon and Constellatia.

71 69

Organizing live shows can be a huge challenge. Tell us a bit about how shows are organized in South Africa and what are the challenges their compared from your experience on touring in Europe?

Haha, I guess I might have covered a bunch of that already, but I will mention we work with a group called Noisefix which helps book awesome DIY shows for bands in SA. Outside of those shows we mostly book shows in our own capacity and do promo, backline etc. ourselves which can be alot of work, but it hasn‘t stopped us yet.

Speaking about touring brings me to some questions related to Live Shows & Touring.

Peasant’s live shows are known for their intensity - what’s been your most memorable or wildest gig so far?

I‘d have to say our set at Venice Hardcore Fest last year was a big highlight for us. We can‘t wait to get back to Italy.

70 72

Touring can be both exciting and challenging. What has been your funniest moment on the road, and how do you stay motivated?

Yeah it can get kinda tough sometimes, but I think that staying humble and being grateful to have the opportunity to play these shows keeps your head straight.

There‘s nothing quite like losing a sleeping spot at the last minute to keep you on your toes, but other than that we‘ve had it pretty good on tour. We‘re easy to please.

If you could tour with any band in the world, past or present, who would it be and why?

If it were up to me it would be Terror. When I was around 18 I was getting into hardcore and listening to alot of Earth Crisis and Hatebreed, but by the time I heard Terror‘s “Lowest of the Low” I knew my life had changed forever.

There‘s no going back after that record if it really grabs you.

“by the time I heard Terror‘s Lowest of the Low I knew my life had changed forever.”

In this last section of the interview, I would like to take a short outlook at what lies ahead for the band – from upcoming projects and new music to future tours. Lets check about their vision for the future and what we can expect from them in the coming months and years. Are there any upcoming projects, albums, tours we should be made aware?

We‘re busy writing a record right now, if all goes well it will be out for release on an EU label next year and we‘ll tour it a bunch then.

If Peasant had to leave one lasting impact on the hardcore/metal scene, what would you want it to be?

It would be awesome to put South Africa on the map in a more prominent way the same way that bands like Whispers and Speed do.

Its mega inspiring to see bands outside the EU/US/Canada build a scene like that and then get hyped overseas.

Thank you Pieter!

73 71

BETWEEN THE LINES FANZINE ISSUE NO. 9

Released June 20. 2025

EDITORS

Julius Kolberg & Jérôme Schlögl LAYOUT & DESIGN

Julius Kolberg & Jérôme Schlögl AUTHORS

Lisa Kochems, Jérôme Schlögl, Hubert Schoon, Julius Kolberg, Philip Helbig, Dominik Baggeler, Florian Fandrich, Philipp Jordan, Stephan Winter, Florus Lowag, Simon Otterburg TITLE

Pictures used for the Title by Lee Gavin, Rebecca Bittner, Jun Who, Jennifer Tenorio NOT NEW, JUST LOUDER

Pictures by Rebecca Bittner, Pat Schmidt FULCI

Pictures by Davide Radicelli PEACE OF MIND

Pictures by Dave Mante, Emely Finke, Jay (judge_infinate), Kevin O’Bryant, Louis Gängler, May (brightenxup), Josi Hoffmann, Rebecca Bittner, Ronja Hackbart MARCEL KRISTENSEN

Pictures by Marcel Kristensen BRAIDS & BRACES

Pictures by Lee Gavin SLIME NW

Pictures by Ian Enger, Harper King, Jun Who, Akio Scene_Pdx, Bruno Guerro, Zachary Keimig MISSING LINK

Pictures by Jennifer Tenorio, Till Jung, Missing Link DIY OR DIE

Pictures by Christoph Telemann, Florian Fandrich BREATHE NEW LIFE

Pictures by Rebecca Bittner RIFFS & ROADRAGE

Pictures by Stephan Winter PEASANT SOUTH AFRICAN HARDCORE

Pictures by Jacques V Rensburg, Kilkenny Photography, Matt Carling 74 72

75

76